Jr A Flyers pull off OT win over Burlington

November 19, 2014 ·
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It was a strange game for sure on Friday night between the Orangeville Junior A Flyers and the Burlington Cougars.

After going ahead in the first period on a goal from Ryan DaSilva, the Flyers gave up three goals before scoring again late in the second period on a powerplay goal from James McLaughlin to make it a 3-2 Burlington game going into the final 20 minutes of play.

What happened in third period is a rare event in Junior A hockey.

The Flyers scored four goals before the period was eight minutes old to take the lead and make it a 6-3 game with just over 12 minutes left on the clock.

When it looked like the Flyers were going to coast the rest of the game and take the win, the Cougars let loose scoring three goals in just under four minutes to tie the game with three minutes remaining.

With no tie-breaker ending the game in a glorious finish for either squad, the game went into overtime.

The Flyers came away with the win when John DiLorenzo hit the back of the Cougars net on a feed from Colin Rigney at 3:53 into the overtime period to clinch win number 12 for the season.

The Flyers are hot this season with a 12-11-1 record – that includes two overtime losses – and a second place in the West Division standings of the Ontario Junior Hockey League.

With 27 points, they are tied for ninth place over all in the 22 team OJHL – way ahead of where they were last season.

“We’re a young team but we play hard every time,” Said Flyers GM, Dana Baker.

With head coach Jamie Caruso at the helm, Baker said he impressed with the entire coaching staff that has turned the team around.

“It’s the whole staff. Jamie’s in charge but they (assistant coaches) all have big input.”

The second home game of the weekend saw the Flyers come up short when the Toronto Patriots were in town for a Sunday afternoon game.

Toronto was leading 2-0 at the end of the first period.

The Flyers tied it up in the second on goals from Lucas Smilsky and James McLaughlin.

Another Patriots goal followed by an O-ville marker from Ryan DaSilva, made it a 3-3 game going into the third.

Toronto scored the only third period goal to leave the ice with a 4-3 win.

The Flyers will be back on home ice at the Alder Street arena in Orangeville this Saturday, November 22, to host the Milton Icehawks